New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU) has as its primary goal to become the premier Hispanic-serving institution in the United States. To accomplish this goal, the Institution must build its capacity to conduct quality biomedical research. In this application, NMHU presents an ambitious, well developed, and interactive program for accomplishing this goal. [unreadable] [unreadable] The long-term objective of the proposed NMHU RIMI program is to improve and enhance the capability of NMHU faculty to conduct quality and competitive biomedical research. This includes solidifying and strengthening NMHU biomedical researchers to provide for an active and scholarly biomedical population at NMHU. By providing our faculty with the support and opportunity to engage in biomedical research, they will be able to grow as biomedical researchers and contribute to the advances generated from the greater biomedical community. By providing NMHU faculty with the means to conduct biomedical research effectively and efficiently, we will improve their success and productivity, and thereby improve the overall biomedical research infrastructure and capacity of our Institution. We believe that through establishment of the NMHU RIMI program, we will be able to give to our faculty and students the opportunity to initiate and pursue novel biomedical research programs, to make these programs competitive in the greater biomedical research arena, and to provide them the means by which they may obtain extramural funding. In order to achieve the long-term objectives in this application we will pursue the following Specific Aims: 1. To enable NMHU faculty to develop as biomedical researchers through the provision of training opportunities and specific activities that will allow them to establish competitive and productive biomedical, and specifically health disparity, research programs. 2. To provide an environment that promotes and supports biomedical research at NMHU by implementing a number of activities aimed at enhancing and developing the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at NMHU. 3. To increase the biomedical research activity at NMHU by providing biomedical research laboratories with Post- Doctoral Fellows who will work full-time conducting research in these laboratories. and 4. To enable NMHU faculty to develop as biomedical researchers by providing released time from teaching and administrative assistance so that they will have the ability to pursue and establish novel biomedical research programs.